I'll Be Your Guardian Angel
by iLOVEsanMYsis
Summary: It all started that senior year of high school...it all began with that one, fated day at the studio...the one day that I decided to show up there, it all changed...our lives would never be the same again...especially mine. YukiShu HiroOC High School
1. Chapter 1

**_I'll Be Your Guardian Angel_**

**Chapter 1**

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_"Come on, pretty boy, it's show time."_

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**SHPOV**

I sighed as I stepped into the school again, glaring at everything around me.

"Come on, Shuichi," I heard someone say cheerfully beside them. I turned to glare up at the person, and the redhead just grinned back, placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Calm down, just a few more weeks of this and we're done," he assured me with a grin.

I rolled my violet eyes. "Whatever, Hiro," I growled, walking a bit faster.

"Oh, don't give me that," he called to my back.

"I will!" I called behind me. Hiro laughed, holding his backpack straps as he jogged after his friend.

"What is wrong with you today?" he asked as he caught up to me, his head tilted to the side.

"Nothing," I grumbled back in reply, stopping in front of my locker to open it with the combination.

"You're lying," he laughed, high-fiving someone as they passed before he turned back to me. "Something is wrong."

"Just leave it alone, Hiro," I grumbled, hearing a pack of girls walk behind me, whispering.

A couple of them said, "Hi, Hiro," before they all began to giggle again and walk away a bit faster. Hiro waved after them, but I pulled him out of his daze by nearly slamming my locker door right in his face, growling.

"Get a grip, they're just girls," he said, rolling his eyes as we began to walk towards his locker.

"That _you_ always get," I snapped under my breath as we stopped beside Hiro's locker, where he quickly pulled out a couple of books and dropped off one from in his bag. He shut it, turning to look at me.

"I'm not the only one," he said, rolling his eyes.

"Oh yeah?" I growled, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah," he said with a nod. "There's Sakuma and Yuki and Seguchi and – "

"Hiro, stop, I get it," I growled with a sigh, beginning to walk with him towards our first class together. "At least you're not always swarmed like them, though…"

"Like what? Like that?" Hiro asked, jutting his thumb over towards a bench as we passed. I could see through the small pack of girls to see a blond sitting on the bench, his tiger eyes not looking at any of the girls, just looking to the other blond that was about a foot away on the bench, smiling at him as he spoke.

I rolled my eyes. "At least they're ignoring the girls," I grumbled, jealous.

"I ignore them, too!" Hiro said in defense and I turned to look at him, raising an eyebrow.

"Well…not all of them…" he murmured quietly, looking off to the side.

"That's what I thought," I grumbled, rolling my eyes as we walked into our first period class, crossing to sit down in desks in the back. "You did my homework, right?"

"'Course I did," Hiro said, pulling out a paper from his backpack to hand it to me.

"Thanks," I smiled as I took it, grinning at him.

"I'm surprised you've made it so long in high school, Shuichi-kun," Hiro said as he rolled his eyes.

"It's actually all 'cause of you, Hiro-kun," I told him with a grin as I looked over at him. "If it weren't for you, I would have failed many years ago."

Hiro just rolled his eyes. "You say that," he said with a laugh. "But you still wouldn't get failing grades if you tried."

It was my turn to roll my eyes. "Hiro, I'm not that smart."

Hiro was about to respond when he looked up at hearing someone calling his name, and I looked to see someone walking into the room, looking around before he spotted Hiro and came over to him.

"Suguru," Hiro said with a nod. "What's up?"

"Something wonderful. Something grand!"

I rose an eyebrow at hearing this.

"Care to share?" I asked, hoping he would tell us what this was about.

"I might have gotten a breakthrough with my cousin," Suguru told us, a wide grin on his face. My jaw dropped, my eyes going wide with shock.

"Seriously?" Hiro asked, a small grin coming to his face.

"Hi, Hiro," a girl said as she passed his desk with a giggle, and Hiro just waved without looking away from Suguru.

"Yes, seriously! He told me he wants to meet with the three of us either today or tomorrow after school to see if we're 'the right material'."

I began to laugh. "C'mon, Suguru. We _are_ the material."

"That just depends on if it's a crappy print or not," Hiro pointed out, and I glared as he and Suguru began to laugh.

"It'll be fine, Shuichi," Suguru assured me as he laughed, pulling up a chair so that he could sit between us and talk to both at the same time, since his chair was on the other side of Hiro. "So, which song are we going to play for him if he asks us to?"

_YPOV_

This was getting rather bothersome. Girls were swarming and flocking behind me everywhere I went. Usually, I didn't let it get to me, because I was much too nice to tell them to go the hell away.

I looked over at my best friend and offered him a smile as he sat on the bench. He was telling me about what had happened last night at dinner with his girlfriend – my older sister – that had made the meal turn out so well into his favor.

I laughed as he said that the waiter had spilled coffee all over him, but that my sister had actually thought it was funny and liked him more because of how he handled the situation so calmly and rationally.

"You two really are meant for each other, Touma-kun," I said with a laugh.

"You really think so, Eiri-kun?" he asked me, smiling.

"Yes, I think so. Tatsuha will think so, as well," I said with a smile, looking at my watch. "Well, time to go to class."

Touma chuckled, beginning to stand from the bench along with me. The girls fawned behind us as we began to walk towards our first period class, and I smiled over at him as we walked, completely ignoring the girls calling my name. Touma was doing the same.

"I have to interview a band either today or tomorrow after school," he told me as we walked. "Would you like to come with me?"

I shrugged. "I might have to work, myself," I said with a soft sigh.

"What do you mean?" he asked me, sounding confused. "I thought you were finished?"

"Rikka-chan might have corrections for me today," I mused with a shrug. "But I don't know if she'll have had a chance to even work on those…" I sighed. Her life was much too stressful for someone my age…

"Ah, I see," Touma said as we turned the corner to go into a classroom, the flock of girls finally seeming to disperse. I breathed a sigh of relief, smiling over at him. "You do your homework?"

"Don't I always?" I asked as we went to our desks, Touma taking one near the back, and I began to set my bag down on the desktop for a moment, standing beside the seat.

"Good morning, Eiri-kun," I heard a voice hum behind me and I turned to see a girl looking up at me with a small, sheepish smile, looking up at me with her tiger eyes, blonde hair falling around her face.

"Morning to you, too, Rikka-chan," I said with a smile as I moved to give the girl a hug. I felt her wince against me, but I let it slide. She almost always did that. She hugged me back after a moment with one of her arms, and as I began to pull away she lifted up the folder that she had in her hands up so that I could see it better.

"I have those corrections for you," she said with a small smile.

"Well, thank you," I said with a smile. "My publisher will be especially pleased."

She smiled back up at me. "You're welcome," she said as I pulled her into a soft hug, gently kissing the top of her head.

I heard someone clear their throat from the front of the classroom and I pulled away to glare at who it was, and, much to my embarrassment, found the teacher watching me with a raised eyebrow, tapping her foot. Rikka squeaked slightly, a blush rising on her cheeks.

I bowed slightly in apology before I moved to sit down once releasing Rikka, who sat in a desk to my left. I heard a few girls giggle near the front and rolled my eyes.

"Looks like you'll be working after school then, Eiri," Touma said over my shoulder, and I nodded, slumping slightly in my seat. "Eiri, that's bad posture."

"Oh, shut it, Touma," I said with a roll of my eyes, turning enough so that I could see him. "I'm fine right where I am."

He just chuckled and sat back, and I waited, settling back in my seat for class to start.

**SHPOV**

After Suguru moved to go back to his chair, I watched as the two blonds of the school walked into the class, the shorter of the two sitting in the desk in front of me. I rolled my eyes as a girl came up behind the blond that was still standing, and looked over at Hiro as he leaned over towards me.

"I didn't know that Suichi and Yuki were together?" he hissed at me as Yuki kissed the top of the girl's head, a confused look on Hiro's face.

I shrugged. "Well, they _have_ known each other for years," I hissed back, sitting back in my seat.

Hiro let out a huff, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared slightly at Yuki.

"Aww, someone's got a crush!" I hissed back after a moment, grinning. Hiro grumbled, looking away from all of us to glare down at his desk. I watched Suichi and Yuki until the teacher came in, chuckling slightly as the teacher cleared her throat.

Suichi blushed and moved to sit down in the seat in front of Hiro, and I noticed that Touma had sat down in front of me. We sat in silence as the class began, but my eyes kept on slipping back to the company president who was sitting in front of me, watching attentively. He was quite clever for someone his age…he'd started his own record deal a year ago with his own band, which I, myself, was well into.

I was amazed that someone so young had founded such a large company…and I was even more amazed that my band was actually getting the chance to be part of this new, already-famous company. I hoped.

I didn't hear anything the teacher said, fantasizing about all of the different things that Bad Luck – our band – would be able to do if we were signed to the label. I might actually get a girl, too.

I was smiling to myself by the end of the class, in which Hiro walked with me to second period. We had all the same classes together except for my – ew – art class. During that period he had some advanced class that I had no interest in being in. I felt sorry for Hiro, though, if we did get signed onto this record company…his parents wanted him to go into med school, but he didn't want to have anything to do with it. His parents were nice people until you mentioned our band. They didn't seem to be all that worried about it when Hiro and I started a couple years ago, using their basement as our 'homebase.'

…but then we got a keyboardist and started to get serious. His parents loathed that fact. They actually tried to shun him away from us, so that he would still 'want' to be a doctor. When we mentioned that it was possible that we could start getting into gigs to play for an actual crowd, they went off the deep end, just like they had when they found out that Hiro's older brother, Yuuji, wanted to be an actor.

Hiro was actually living with me at the moment with my parents because his parents told him that he wasn't their son if he planned on pursuing his 'ridiculous dream of guitars and keyboards' that I had apparently shoved into his head. They'd thrown him out of the house, disowned him, telling him never to come back unless he was planning on becoming a doctor. Needless to say, he hadn't gone back.

He just wanted to finish high school so we could get out and go to our job…which we would hopefully achieve right after school.

I began to think of all the possibilities there were…all of the things that could change after we got signed…we'd be able to actually record songs, sell cd's, and go to actual concert gigs, and not just play at night clubs where people were just mingling around with each other…we could actually go somewhere where the people were actually there to see us.

I went through the entire day thinking of this, not really knowing what I was doing. All throughout the day Hiro would hand me notes he'd taken for me, and I would just take them with a nod.

I only really came to my senses when I looked up at the clock and saw that there were five minutes left of school. Five minutes!

I began to nearly bounce out of my seat, and Hiro, who sat behind me, put a hand securely on my shoulder to hold me still.

When the bell rang I whooped and shouted in joy, jumping up and doing a little dance by my chair. Hiro rolled his eyes.

"Come on, pretty boy, it's show time."

_YPOV_

My fingers quickly clicked across the keys, others sitting beside me watching me write. Even though I never allowed them to see what it was I was writing, I guess I couldn't stop them watching me.

Only Touma was allowed to sit beside me in our last period computer class, because I knew that since he owned a company of his own that I could trust him to not tell anyone my novel's secrets.

I was working quickly, trying to finish the edits that Rikka had given me earlier so I could pick her up and take her with me, momentarily, to the studio like Touma had asked and get that out of the way so I could take her out to a movie.

She had looked like she needed a break, and she had looked so tired, oh so tired, when I saw her before this period, but she said she'd tell me about it later…like always.

I worked quickly, and was just finishing the last word change when I heard the bell ring. With a triumphant smile, I slapped the lid down on my laptop and slipped it into my bag. Beside me, Touma laughed.

"Finish?" he asked me as he stood. I nodded. "That's good. I have to run ahead to the studio. Would you mind stopping on your way there and grabbing me an iced espresso shake from that great coffee house?"

I laughed. "The Starbucks?"

"Yeah, there," he said with a wide smile.

"Sure," I answered with a nod as he slung his backpack onto his shoulder. "I'll get you one."

"Thanks, Eiri! I'll see you in a few minutes!" he called before he ran out of the computer room and down the hallway and out of my sight.

I just shook my head after him, putting my own messenger bag's strap across me as I walked out, slower than him.

I went outside, leaning against a pole just outside the front door to the high school as I waited.

"I hope you haven't been waiting long…"

I turned at hearing her voice, and smiled.

"No, actually, not at all," I said, turning to smile at Rikka as she came over to me, and I put an arm gently around her shoulders. "You look so tired, Rikka…"

"I know…" she murmured softly, leaning against my side as we began to walk down the steps towards the parking lot and my car.

"Did you not sleep well?" I asked her, and she just shook her head.

"My dad was drunk last night again…he was really loud," she said. "Kept me awake all night."

"I see," I replied softly as I brought her to the passenger side of my beloved American Mercedes, opening the door for her. I took her bag and set it in the back seat for her, along with mine, and then closed her door and went around to mine.

"Are you up for some coffee?" I asked her with a grin.

"Oh yes…caffeine sounds wonderful right now," Rikka laughed out as I turned the car on before I began to drive out of the parking lot towards the coffee house.

That's the end of chapter 1. I hope you enjoyed it, and please leave a review!

**Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story except for Rikka-chan. She is a character of my own creation. All others belong to the creator of Gravitation.**


	2. Chapter 2

As a precaution, I am warning my readers that there is quite a bit of language use at the end of this chapter, though the rating is remaining T. I hope you all understand. Thank you!

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_**I'll Be Your Guardian Angel**_

**Chapter 2**

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"_Yeah, well, you know what? I see the school just as you do! I see the drugs, I see the sex, and I see the lies, but I don't do drugs, I don't have sex, and I don't __**lie to my dad**__!"_

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**SHPOV**

Suguru turned, grinning at me as we walked into the large, shiny studio. I, however, was feeling intimidated. I felt inferior. Oh, crap, what had we gotten ourselves into? It was a stupid dream, a silly fantasy! We couldn't match up to Nittle Grasper, even if we tried! We didn't deserve to work, or play what we called music, on the same planet, let alone the very same studio! What were we thinking?!

"Come on, Shuichi!" Suguru laughed, clapping my shoulder. "We got this."

"No, maybe we don't," I began feebly, finally letting my nerves about the situation be known as we stepped inside the silver elevator, Hiro pressing a button…I wasn't sure which one. I jumped as it began to slowly move up. "Maybe we should just leave now, save us the humiliation! Let's just go before – "

"Shuichi."

I jumped at the sharp tone, looking over at Hiro. He was holding his guitar case in his hand, watching me with an almost glaring gaze.

"I gave up my life for this," he continued in that still sharp tone. "I'm not gonna let you chicken out on me now."

My lavender eyes fell to the floor of the elevator, a guilt trip swimming to the surface of my mind.

"Sorry," I mumbled softly. "I'm just…nervous…"

"It's all right. I understand," Hiro said with a smile, placing a hand on my shoulder. "But you can do it. I know you can."

I smiled at Hiro, my arms going up and around him. He put his free arm around me, and I whispered, "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Hiro said as the elevator announced it's arrival at our destination, pulling away from me as he headed for the doors as soon as they began to open. When we got there, it was as though we'd walked right into a giant office. There was a rug, with a couple of couches facing the middle, where a coffee table sat. There were also three or four armchairs around the table, completing a circle. There were doors all along the side of the room, but that wasn't what made me want to start shaking.

There, on the other side of the ring of comfortable looking seats, was what made my heart skip a beat and my hands shake and begin to sweat, the sun streaming in from the wall of glass windows that displayed the beauty of downtown Tokyo.

Seguchi Touma sat at his desk already, his fingers steepled together and rested in front of his lips as his blue eyes watched us intently above the frames of reading glasses, waiting silently as the three of us came out of the elevator.

He wasn't wearing his casual school clothes anymore, but was wearing a pair of black slacks and a red long sleeved shirt with the sleeves folded up a quarter of the way, the shirt not buttoned all the way to the top. He wore a black and white striped vest, a loose black tie slipping down from the collar of the shirt and under the edge of the top of the vest. He wore a couple of small necklaces on his neck, dangling above the last buttoned section, the tie just low enough to make the necklaces visible.

When they had come inside, he smiled, ever so slightly.

"Welcome to my studio," he said clearly, and I shivered. Hiro elbowed me in my side. This really wasn't a good idea… "Fujisaki-san." Suguru nodded. My brow furrowed. Did he always call his cousin that, or was that just for…professional purposes?

"Nakano-san." Hiro nodded, this time, in response to the name. "And finally…Shindou-san." I nodded. "And what is it that you three call yourselves?"

"We call ourselves Bad Luck," we all responded in unison.

"That's an odd name," Touma said as he watched us, still not having moved from where he sat. I swallowed. I didn't like the sentence that had come out of his mouth. He didn't like it…

"But then again…it's quite clever. I like it." He offered us a slow smile, and I sighed a breath of relief. Finally, he began to stand, reaching up to pull off his reading glasses with one hand, laying them carefully over a few folders of what looked like paperwork. "Would you three be opposed to playing something for me?"

"Not at all," Hiro answered, the first to respond, when he thought that I was going to blurt out a quick 'no,' just wanting to escape and hide.

"Come with me. I'll let you use Nittle Grasper's private studio for this."

As Suguru and Hiro began to follow the young man as he crossed to a door close to the glass wall, I stared after him in shock. Nittle Grasper's personal recording studio?! I was sure I was going to faint…

"Come on, pretty boy," Hiro's voice said as he grabbed my arm, shaking me out of my stupor as he pulled me after Suguru and Touma, the latter of which was holding the door open for the three of us.

"Will this suffice?" Touma asked as we walked inside, and my eyes bugged out of my head, my jaw feeling as though it wanted to unhinge and drop all the way to the floor.

The studio was utterly amazing. It had a recording booth, and on the outside of it was a soundboard, as well as a little waiting room off to the side with a complete mini kitchen and a table with comfortable looking chairs and a couch on one wall with a plasma tv hanging from the opposite wall, visible from both the couch, the table and the mini kitchen. It lived up to every expectation a recorder could look for.

"Uh…yeah…" I managed out in a shaking voice as Suguru went straight for the door for the recording booth, opening the door and going over to the keyboard looking thing.

"Would you mind if I played around with this for a few moments, Seguchi-san?" Suguru asked as he pointed to one of the pieces of equipment, and Touma shook his head.

"Absolutely not. Go right on ahead," he said, waving a hand in the air beside him in dismissal as Suguru went right to work on fixing a few things on the synthesizer.

Hiro had gone straight inside, too, and took his guitar out of his case, plugging it into the amp and quickly beginning to tune it by ear. I had nothing to do, so I just stood there, looking around the recording suite in awe.

"Amazing, isn't it?"

I jumped at hearing the voice, turning to see Touma watching me, a small smile on his features.

"Completely," I agreed.

"You know, Ryuichi-kun designed this," Touma told me, and I turned to look at him.

"Sakuma-san?" I repeated. My biggest star? My hero? Really? Holy crap…

"Yes," Touma chuckled. I must have looked shocked. "He wanted something that would fit his needs…and that usually meant him staying at the studio overnight to work on lyrics or to try and figure out a song on his own…so he made something functional to his needs and Noriko-chan and I agreed to it. There's nothing wrong with it, is there?"

Even if I were to think not, I wasn't stupid enough to disagree with him. I just numbly shook my head, turning to look back at Hiro and Suguru as I heard a yell meant to catch my attention.

Suguru was waving me into the recording booth.

"Come on, pretty boy!" he called, and I saw Hiro standing up, nodding to me. I nodded and turned from Touma to go into the booth, shutting the door behind me.

"So, what're you boys going to play for me today?"

I jumped at the voice that came from the speakers above, and turned to look out into the room to see Touma at the soundboard out in the control room, pressing a button and leaning down so he was close to the moveable mic on the system.

"A song called the Rage Beat," Hiro answered for me, and Touma nodded.

"Fire away," he said, sitting in the chair that was behind him, steepling his fingers together again as his elbows rested on the arms of the chair. He watched us with curious eyes, as though wondering if we were as good as Suguru probably said we were.

I looked to either side of me to see Suguru and Hiro looking to each other before they silently counted off and started together, giving me a few moments before I started.

Just before they started to play, my eyes caught movement in the room outside in the large studio suite. The door that led to Touma's office had opened and inside stepped Yuki and the girl from that morning…really, the only thing he did remember from then. They were each holding a coffee cup from the Starbucks down the street, though Yuki was holding two.

Touma turned in his chair, and I wished I could hear what was said between the three as Touma took the second coffee cup from Yuki and said something to him. Yuki began to laugh as he pulled over two chairs, letting Suichi sit down before he even did.

Just as they sat down, it was my turn to begin singing…and that's exactly what I did for my audience, just praying that it was good enough.

_YPOV_

"So, what's this band called, anyway?" I asked as I turned to go get two chairs.

"Bad Luck," Touma said, smiling as he looked at me. "And hey, would you look at that, it fits all of us!"

I laughed, and I saw Rikka smile slightly just a few feet from me as she sipped at her coffee as I pulled over two chairs.

"Are they supposed to be good?" I asked as I sat, looking over my school mates in the room.

"From what Suguru says, yes," Touma told me just as the vocalist began to sing.

As I listened, I felt as though I wanted to melt in my seat. God, that voice was amazing! I turned to look at Touma, a shocked look on my face. Sure, the kid didn't have great lyrical talent, but I mean seriously, he made it all up with his voice…

"You like them, Eiri?" Touma asked me, and I could just nod. "Good. So do I."

I listened to them as they finished out the song, a smile having played itself out on my lips. However, as soon as I realized it was there, I made it disappear. I wasn't supposed to be smiling so much during a business deal.

I watched as Touma looked to me then, his fingers still steepled together in front of his face.

"Yes, or no, Eiri?" he asked me, and I smirked.

"Yes."

"Yes, or no, Rikka-chan?" he questioned, looking past me to where Rikka was sipping at her drink.

"Yes."

I saw Touma half smile then as he turned in his chair again, leaning forward to press the little button above the microphone.

"Bad Luck, you have just received three yes'. You are now a part of NG Records."

I saw them begin to laugh, the red haired one going over to the vocalist to sweep him into a large bear hug. I smiled, and then I began to stand, looking over to Touma. "is that all you wanted me to see, Touma-kun?" I asked, and he nodded.

"Yes, that's all, Eiri," he said, smiling. "I needed confirmation. I can't sign on a band that I might like, but someone out in the audience doesn't. I thought I'd ask you first."

"Well, thank you," I told him as I stood, helping Rikka stand behind me, as well.

"Oh, no, believe me, Eiri, the pleasure was all mine," Touma smiled, looking to Rikka. "It was nice to see you, Rikka-chan."

"Same to you, Touma," she told him with a smile as I put our seats away, walking towards the door with her.

It was then that we walked outside the studio in silence, and after we'd gotten into the car, I looked over at her.

She looked up at me and smiled slightly.

"Do you want to go to a movie?" I asked her softly, reaching over to place my hand on her cheek.

"A movie?" she echoed, a slow smile spreading across her features.

"Yes."

"A movie sounds wonderful, Eiri," she told me as she settled back into her seat as I started the car.

**SHPOV**

I smiled triumphantly as I watched Touma stand up to go back out into his office, getting the paperwork he had just mentioned. I looked to Suguru, who was smiling at me.

"See, I told you we were the right material," Hiro told me with a grin, punching my shoulder.

"Yeah, you're right. I should have listened to you two," I relented, sitting back.

"So, what are you guys going to do tonight?" Suguru asked the two of us.

"I dunno…Mom was probably gonna cook dinner for us," I told him, and Hiro nodded.

"You want to come with us?" Hiro asked, and Suguru nodded.

"That's fine; I just have to tell Touma that I won't be there tonight."

Hiro and I nodded as Touma walked back into the room, three folders in his hands. He placed one in front of each of us.

"This is the NG Records contract," he told us as he put a pen on top of each folder. "Take your time reading it, and when you have, sign it. If you have any questions, feel free to ask. This is a one year contract, which means unless you commit any crimes or anything of the like at all, I cannot fire you from my company within those four years. If you have been successful after the first year, I will renew your contract with a five year one, and then a ten year one, and so on and so forth."

I nodded, reaching forward for the folder. I opened it, beginning to read over the contract. Suguru, at one side of me, went ahead and signed it, handing it back to Touma. Hiro and I, though, were taking our time reading over the contract.

When I was satisfied with the terms, I finally took the pen into my hand and popped the cap, signing messily on the line, before I closed the pen and handed it back to Touma.

"Thank you," he said as he took it, just as Hiro was offering his back, as well. "And thank you."

He checked the three contracts before he smiled and stood from his desk chair.

"All right, the three of you are free to go for today. Tomorrow, your studio will be at least ready for you t use, and so the three of you should return here after school tomorrow."

"Okay, thank you, Seguchi-san," I said as I stood, smiling, and he smirked at us as the three of us stood.

"From this point forth, Bad Luck," he said softly, looking between the two of us, "we're rivals."

_YPOV_

After the movie, I took Rikka out to dinner, and once that was done I drove her home.

"I had fun tonight, Eiri," she told me, and I smiled.

"I did, too," I said, watching as she began to unbuckle her seatbelt. "You want me to walk you to the door?"

"No, thank you, Eiri, that's all right," she told me with a smile as she began to get out. "I'll see you in the morning, right?"

"Yup, seven thirty, like always," I told her with a smile, watching as she leaned across to kiss my cheek.

"All right…bye, Eiri," she said, closing the door. I rolled the window down, looking after her.

"Bye, Rikka!" I called, watching as she headed for the door. I made sure she was inside before I put the car back in gear, but then, I stopped. I quietly turned the engine off, listening. It was quiet inside, and I was just about to start my car again when I heard a shriek of both fear and pain and the shattering of glass.

My mind frantic, I listened harder.

"You little twit! You were supposed to be home three hours ago! Where the hell were you?"

"E-Eiri brought me out tonight," I heard Rikka whimper, her voice filled with pain and I closed my eyes. This was my fault. I looked up at the kitchen window, where I was able to see the shadow of her father looming on the curtain. The window was open, which was the only reason I was able to even hear the two of them in the first place.

"Eiri." Her father spat my name like it was poison. "Why do you care about some little shit you met at school, eh? Why do you care about him more than your own family? Next thing I know, you're gonna be selling that body of yours out for an hour to the highest bidder. And who knows what you'll spend that money on. Drugs, eh? I bet that's what that Eiri boy has gotten you into, am I right?"

The home was quiet for a moment, and I gripped at the steering wheel. It was taking me all that I had not to call the police. I didn't do it because I knew that this was what her father had done to her before…my father did it to me every day. We had to protect each other…and that meant not turning in our torturers until we were eighteen, until we were sure of our freedom in this cruel little world.

"Yeah, well, you know what, Dad?" I heard Rikka whimper, then cry out.

"Don't give me anymore lies, you little bitch," her father snarled out, and I just knew that he'd kicked her. "I should just pull you out of school now. That place is just as bad as they all say it is, isn't it?"

"Yeah, well, you know what? I see the school just as you do! I see the drugs, I see the sex, and I see the lies, but I don't do drugs, I don't have sex, and I don't _lie to my dad_!"

I closed my eyes again, listening. That plea from Rikka was the end of the conversation. After a long while spent in the driveway trying to calm myself down, listening to the now quiet voices of Rikka and her father, I finally turned my car back on and pulled onto the road, heading for my own home.


End file.
